


talk literary to me

by heroisms (tiny_white_hats)



Series: 30 AUs [2]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Bookstore, Alternate Universe - Human, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-24
Updated: 2015-03-24
Packaged: 2018-03-19 10:50:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,222
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3607374
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tiny_white_hats/pseuds/heroisms
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Isaac stops by the campus bookstore where Allison works every Tuesday and Thursday, and it doesn’t take that many Tuesdays and Thursdays for Allison to develop an interest in him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	talk literary to me

**Author's Note:**

> written for round 2 of the twmicrobang.

He'd been visiting for a few weeks now, and Allison thought she was starting to figure out his pattern. Every Tuesday and Thursday just after 12:15 he came by the independent campus bookstore where she worked and made a beeline for the bargain fiction section. He never stayed more than twenty minutes, and he always winked at Allison on his way out. He never bought anything, but he always came back the next Tuesday or Thursday, and did it all again.

 

It had only taken a few weeks for her to start looking for him, head popping up every time the door opened, watching out of the corner of her eye to see if he left the bargain fiction section. She watched for him because he was a good benchmark, she justified it to herself; he always came right at the halfway point in her shift, signaling that she was close to being done. But if she was being honest, she liked the look of him tucked back between the shelves, running a finger along the spines of books.

           

If asked, Allison would say that she didn’t know his routine when visiting the shop, and, in fact, she hadn’t even noticed him. Which was a dirty lie, of course; she knew his routine so well that she noticed immediately the first time he changed his routine. To be fair, anyone would have noticed, as he made an immediate beeline for the counter where she worked, but the fact that she had been absently watching him was hard to argue.

 

Allison blinked at him for a moment when he reached her at the cash register. The change in routine was unexpected, and it took her a second to process. Also, he was even better looking up close. “Welcome to Beacon Books.”

 

He smiled disarmingly at her. “Can I ask you a favor?”

 

Allison smiled back. “Depends on the favor.”

 

“Tell me what book I should get.” The man braced his elbows on the counter before him and leaned in to speak to her. Allison guessed he was about her age, probably another student at UC Beacon Hills if she wasn’t way off base. He almost looked like he could be an English major, what with his cardigan and flatteringly tight jeans, but Allison had never known an English major to ask for literature recommendations instead of just giving them out. A history major, maybe. She could see that.

 

“I guess that depends on what you want to read.”

 

He paused for a minute before answering, then gave Allison a bright smile that made her knees go a tiny bit weak in the most embarrassingly cliché way possible. “I think I want to read something that you think deserves to be read.”

 

 “Good answer,” Allison said, and stood up from behind the cash register, motioning for him to follow her into the stacks. She started leading him from shelf to shelf, pulling books off one by one and piling them into his arms. She ran the bases from Vonnegut to Allende to Murakami to Homer, not sure what he’d actually like to read, but determined to find something for him anyways.

 

“You want me to read all of these?” he asked, craning his neck around the stack of books in his arms to look at her. Maybe the fact that he couldn’t see her over the pile of books he was holding was a sign she’d gone a little overboard. Maybe.

 

“You should probably start with one of them, and then come back next week when you’re ready for another.”

 

“You seem pretty sure I’ll come back here,” he smirked, raising both eyebrows.

 

“Yeah, I am pretty sure.” Allison put one last book on top of his stack, Atwood this time, and turned on her heel to sit back behind her counter. No customers had come while she’d been helping him, but she hadn’t been expecting them too. This guy was one of the few who ever came during her Tuesday/Thursday noontime shifts.

 

The man staggered after her, weighed down by the stack of books he held. When he made it to the counter he dropped them all down with a thud, making Allison bite back a quiet laugh. “So, you still haven’t told me what book to get.”

 

“No, but I think you’re going to have to handle that part yourself.”

 

He made a face at her, but turned to the stack of books in front of him and started inspecting them anyways. Allison absently watched him as he poked through the books, reading back covers and book jackets and occasionally flipping through a few pages. He had a nice face, and a nice voice and was just overall nice to look at, but there was something about him that just made Allison want to keep looking.

 

Eventually, he dropped a copy of _Slaughterhouse Five_ down on the counter before her, looking very satisfied with himself.

 

“Hmm, actually, I would have chosen _American Gods_ for you.”

 

“Okay, I’ll make you a deal,” he offered. “If I finish this in a week, I’ll come back and pick up _American Gods_ from you. Sound good?”

 

“That doesn’t really sound like much of a deal. It’s just you buying more books from me,” Allison laughed.

 

“Alright. How about, if I finish this in a week, I’ll come back and pick up _American Gods_ from you, and then you’ll come get coffee and talk Vonnegut with me once your shift ends.”

 

“That sounds like,” Allison paused for a second, appreciating the vaguely anxious, pained look on his face as he waited for her response, “a surprisingly good deal.”

 

“Well,” the guy across the counter grinned. “I guess I better go start reading.”

 

“No time to waste,” Allison agreed, ringing up his purchase. When he paid, he tucked a scrap of paper with his number on it into his fistful of bills, and when Allison printed his receipt, she scrawled her phone number across the bottom margin.

 

“I’m Allison, by the way,” she said, walking around the counter to start gathering up the rejected books.

 

“Nice to finally meet you, Allison. I’m Isaac.” He awkwardly shuffled in place for a moment, the hand not holding his new book reaching up to scratch at the scruff of his neck. “I can help put those away? I mean, you did get them out for me.”

 

“It’s fine. This will give me something to do with my shift that’s a little more interesting than staring at the cash register. And besides, you’ve got a book to read.”

 

“You’re right, I do,” he laughed, and started for the door. “Hey, maybe next week, I’ll pick out a book for you, and give you something to do on your shifts besides looking at the cash register and cleaning up your own messes.”

 

“Maybe you should,” Allison grinned involuntarily.

 

“I’ll see you in a week, Allison,” Isaac said, before pushing the shop door open.

 

“Only if you finish that book.”

 

“Believe me, I’ll make sure it happens.”

 

Allison believed him. And a week later, when Isaac walked into Beacon Books right at 12:15 with a copy of _Slaughterhouse Five_ in handand a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth, it turned out that she was right to believe him.

 

fin.

**Author's Note:**

> come find me at tumblr at allisaacs.tumblr.com. talk to me about allisaac, rarepairs, and human aus.


End file.
